My grandmother’s name was Francis, I never met her, but I know her. Somehow we are soul mates, bound together for the same calling.
Two of my favorite authors are Francis Frangipane and Francis Chan.
Who was St. Francis?
Interestingly enough, the village I went to, had a library with multiple books on St. Francis. What do you do when you are isolated from the world without a computer, phone, TV, etc? You sit on the porch and watch people(more on that tomorrow) or you go to the library and check out books on St. Francis:)
Here’s what I found:
~Francis steered clear of the poor until God set up a divine appointment that changed his heart forever and Francis began to seek out the poor and minister to them
~you and I are the non-poor
~If we, like Francis are seeking to follow Jesus, we must begin to find ways to journey to the margins of society, to encounter those on the other side of our ‘circle”. You don’t encounter those outside your circle until you move toward them. (I’m thinking, I’ll be moving TOWARD Africa…Passport papers turned in next week)
~Francis and I have the same philosophy. Francis simply took the next RIGHT step, then the next…..
~St. Francis maintained that the safest remedy against the thousand snares and wiles of the enemy is spiritual JOY! (Thanks Bo, for teaching that to me this spring!)
~Francis moved through life in contemplation, in a fundamental attitude of receptiveness to the Spirit and a primary attunement to the reality around him at all times. *I prayed for this same contemplative attitude and God delivered!
~His(and our) awareness of God’s presence, shaped how he lived every moment.
I love God in the Francis’s I know and I want a piece of what they have! God grant me the heart of Francis.
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